UPDATE: Cutter Missing One of its Guards

COTATI, CA—The Grafix Screen Printing employee who needed to have his right hand reattached following an accident involving a paper cutter was operating a machine that was missing one of its safety guards, the Press Democrat reported. The accident victim, Lon Martinsen, 51, has regained movement in his fingers.

Shop manager Michele Holman told the Press Democrat that Martinsen was cutting decals with a Dexter guillotine cutter at the time of the accident.

“It’s a big electric one, and there’s a foot pedal you have to step on to bring the guard down,” Holman told the paper. “You have to use two hands to make the blade come down. No one’s really sure how it happened.”

The machine was ordered shut down by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) until a protective device is installed. The paper quoted Holman as saying she hopes to replace the machine altogether.